FREDERICKSBURG REGIONAL TRANSIT

History In Motion

PROPOSED CHANGES TO VF1 VRE FEEDER SERVICE

AND

TO COWAN BOULEVARD SERVICE AFTER CESSATION OF VF2 SERVICE

As announced at the end of August, FREDericksburg Regional Transit (FRED) will discontinue route VF2, VRE feeder service, to Cowan Boulevard.

In response to comments from users of the VF2 service, FRED proposes to adjust service on the other Fredericksburg VRE feeder service, the VF1, to permit the continuation of limited service to Cowan Blvd. The adjustments are made possible as a result of eliminating several timed stops on the VF1 in the morning, which has the effect of reducing the amount of time needed to operate that route from the Village of Idlewild.

The schedules on the following pages show the existing and proposed timetables.

The effective date for these changes would be Monday, October 4, 2010.

Proposed Changes to the VF1 Morning Service

The current schedule shows six timed stops (meaning the times before which the bus must not depart) for the VF1. Because of the short distances between these timed stops, the buses typically end up waiting to depart these stops until the designated times. The proposed changes to the VF1 eliminate three of these timed stops, permitting FRED to tighten the schedule.

This tightening of the schedule further permits FRED to serve Cowan Blvd for certain VRE morning trains, namely the 302 (departing the station at 5:15 am), 306 (departing the station at 6:05 am) and 310 (departing the station at 7:10 am) without degrading service for other VF1 riders.

The proposed changes mean that the bus will depart five or ten minutes later from the timed stop at Idlewild Blvd and Saunders Drive; it will depart the timed stop at Idlewild Blvd and Downman Place either three minutes later or two minutes earlier. See the attached proposed schedule for details.

Proposed Changes to the VF1 Afternoon and Evening Service

For Village of Idlewild riders, there are no changes proposed in FRED’s VF1 afternoon and evening service.

For Cowan Blvd riders, we propose serving VRE trains 301, 309, 311 and 313 on an as-requested basis. Cowan Blvd would be served after service to the Village of Idlewild is completed. Upon boarding, Cowan Blvd riders would need to advise their drivers of their destination. When no Cowan Blvd riders are aboard, FRED would not travel beyond the Village of Idlewild to Cowan Blvd. See the attached proposed schedule for details.

FRED appreciates that the proposed afternoon and evening schedule for Cowan Blvd is far from ideal. But, considering the intervals between the arrival times of the VRE trains, the need to provide reliable service to the Village of Idlewild and the alternative of providing no service to Cowan Blvd, FRED believes that the proposal represents a serious effort to accommodate our Cowan Blvd VRE riders.

Questions or comments?

Contact Arnold Levine, Manager of Policy, Planning & Compliance for FRED Transit at 372.1222 x209 or at .

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